James C. Brown
Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Banking Officer
James is responsible for overseeing all Commercial Banking activity, including Commercial Real Estate, Commercial & Industrial, Business Banking, Private Clients Group, and Cash Management Services. His leadership will support a broad range of clients across privately held businesses, nonprofit organizations, professional service firms, real estate developers, and related investors with a focus on growing our C&I and CRE lending portfolios, increasing commercial deposits and strengthening relationships with customers, business advisors and community leaders.
He has more than 38 years of experience in the financial services industry with expertise in leading high-performing Commercial Banking teams. Prior to joining Washington Trust, Jim spent 22 years at Boston Private Bank, where he served as Co-President of the Commercial Bank. Most recently, he served as Senior Executive Vice President at Berkshire Bank, overseeing all Commercial and Private Banking activities across Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, and the Mid-Atlantic ABL team. He began his career in commercial banking and credit at Shawmut Bank and State Street Bank in Boston.
Jim holds a Bachelor’s degree from Nichols College, where he has served as a Trustee for the past decade, and a Masters in Business Administration from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College. He serves on the board of Ranfac Corporation, a privately owned medical device manufacture and design company in Avon, MA, and on various fundraising committees including the Judge Baker Children’s Center, the Jim Lerner Charitable Foundation and its support for the Play Ball Foundation, as well as offering direct endowment funding and local community support for college scholarships.